The pasturing of poultry is becoming a popular management method for many small flock producers, and even some moderately sized commercial farms. When pasturing chickens, the birds are allowed to roam in large areas that have various grasses or other forage plants. This is similar to systems commonly used for cattle and sheep. In fact, many producers will have their poultry flocks follow a cattle herd; the grazing cattle will keep the grasses short enough so that the smaller chickens can more easily move around.
Many pastured poultry enthusiasts like the fact the birds are able to graze in the grass just like the cattle and sheep. These foraging chickens are looking for seeds and insects that are found in the pastures. During the spring and early summer, insects are plentiful and provide an excellent feed source for chickens. And once the grasses, weeds and other forage plants in the pasture produce seeds the birds will readily consume them to obtain their nutrition. However, late in the summer the seeds are gone and insect numbers decline so the available nutrients for poultry are significantly reduced so the pasture-raised animals receive a significant portion of their nutrition from organically managed pasture and stored dried forages.